Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Has $44.27 Million Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 555,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,000 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown accounts for 1.5% of Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $44,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 423.1% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 36.9% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Argus upgraded shares of Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.73.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $55.78 on Wednesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.20 and a 1 year high of $113.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $65.96 and its 200-day moving average is $73.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.22%.

Brown & Brown Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.